By James Orji
Another round of petrol scarcity is looming following the return of queues by motorists at filling stations in the nation’s capital, Abuja last weekend. The queues could spread to major cities and state capitals in the country in few days if urgent steps are not taken by concerned authorities, close watchers say.
In February this year, the nation witnessed a month- long acute fuel shortages due to importation glut by the state owned NNPC following discovery that methanol found in imported fuel exceeded Nigeria’s specifications.
The NNPC later claimed that the shortages was caused by the withdrawal of the adulterated petrol. The problem lingered for many weeks as the NNPC struggled to meet the demand of desperate motorists.
Just three months after the ugly experience, those watching the situation in Abuja, insist that the NNPC needs to inervene on the matter quickly before it degenerates into another fuel crisis, even though the immediate cause of the latest queues in Abuja remains unknown.
The magazine learnt that filling stations in the Wuse, Bwari, Lugbe and other satellite towns are still selling in prices raging from N165 and above. But petrol dealers said they are likely to exhaust their stocks in few days while appealing to the NNPC to ensure that the product t is available.
Meanwhile, the NNPC in its reaction said the development is due to the recent long Salah holiday, noting that the agency is on top of the situation.
“The NNPC Ltd notes the sudden appearance of fuel queues in parts of Abuja. This is very likely due to low loadouts at depots which usually happen during long public holidays, in this case, the Sallah celebrations. The state owned corporation said it has directed marketers to ramp up supply.
“Another contributing factor to the sudden appearances of queues is the increased fuel purchases which is also usual with returning residents of the FCT from the public holiday.”
“We assure all residents of the FCT, and indeed all Nigerians, that we have ample local supplies and national stock in excess of 2.5 billion litres, with sufficiency of more than 43 days.
“The NNPC Ltd hereby advises motorists not to engage in panic buying as supplies are adequate as will become increasingly evident in the coming days,” NNPC said in a statement on Sunday.
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